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Ottawa and Québec grant $4.7M to LOOP Mission to help optimize its production
Automation to accelerate growth
Boisbriand, Quebec, April 4, 2022 – The governments of Canada and Quebec are granting a total of $4.7 million in financial assistance to LOOP Mission, based in Boisbriand, in the Laurentides region. The business, which markets cold-pressed juices and smoothies as part of the circular economy, aims to purchase automated equipment for its manufacturing lines and adopt new processes to increase its production capacity and sustain an increase in demand. The project is valued at $11.2 million.
The Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED), the Honourable Pascale St‑Onge, and the Minister of Finance and Member for Groulx, Eric Girard, on behalf of the Minister for the Economy, Lucie Lecours, made the announcement today.
To support LOOP Mission in implementing its project, the Government of Canada is granting the business a repayable contribution of $1.2 million under CED’s Regional Economic Growth through Innovation program. This assistance will enable LOOP Mission to acquire and install specialized cutting-edge equipment and implement a marketing strategy in the U.S.
For its part, the Government of Quebec is granting a loan of over $1.7 million through the ESSOR program, while Investissement Québec is providing a loan of over $1.7 million from its capital funds as part of the Productivité innovation initiative.
By acquiring new equipment, LOOP Mission will be able to increase its production capacity fivefold, as well as improve the yield on pressed food products. Adding other state-of-the-art equipment will enable it to obtain finished products with an extended shelf life without affecting their taste or nutritional value, ensuring they are ready for shipping locally and abroad. The business also aims to develop into the U.S. market.
“The Government of Canada has made concrete commitments to demonstrate that a strong economy and a healthy environment go hand in hand. In addition to fostering industrial competitiveness and socio-economic growth, reducing our ecological footprint has a positive impact on our community. That is why we are providing our support to LOOP Mission, a young business whose success is raising the profile not just of the Greater Montréal area but also of the Canadian economy as a whole.”
The Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Member of Parliament for Brome–Missisquoi, Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for CED
“SMEs across all regions represent a major economic force for Quebec. The investment announced by LOOP Mission is important for Boisbriand and for the Laurentides region. We are proud to support a young SME that is investing today to be better prepared for the future!”
Eric Girard, Minister of Finance and Member for Groulx
“Accompanying promising businesses as they automate is one of our priorities. By acquiring this new equipment, LOOP Mission will become more productive and eco-friendly. Initiatives that combine wealth creation and the development of a more sustainable economy: This is what we want to support right across Quebec.”
Lucie Lecours, Minister for the Economy
“Our regional team is proud to support promising young entrepreneurs who, like Julie Poitras‑Saulnier and David Côté, are leveraging sustainable development, innovation, and the acquisition of technological equipment to increase their production capacity and meet the demand for their products. With the tools available through the Productivité innovation initiative, we are ready to accompany businesses that want to sustain their competitiveness and grow in Quebec and internationally.”
Guy LeBlanc, President and CEO, Investissement Québec
- Founded in 2016, LOOP Mission occupies a specialized niche by manufacturing products from downgraded fruits and vegetables destined for composting. The juices and smoothies are bottled and marketed nationally. The pulp is recovered for use in dog treats and energy bars or processed into biomethane and essential oils. LOOP Mission’s products are available for purchase in grocery stores across Canada.
- CED is a key federal partner in Quebec’s regional economic development. With its 12 regional business offices, CED accompanies businesses, supporting organizations and all regions across Quebec into tomorrow’s economy.
- CED’s Regional Economic Growth through Innovation (REGI) program targets entrepreneurs leveraging innovation to grow their businesses and enhance their competitiveness, as well as regional economic stakeholders helping to create an entrepreneurial environment conducive to innovation and growth for all, across all regions.
- The ESSOR program aims to support investments projects in Quebec with a view to enhancing competitiveness and productivity, creating jobs and ensuring sustainable development.
- Investissement Québec has a mission to actively participate in Quebec’s economic development by stimulating business innovation, entrepreneurship, and investment and export growth across all Quebec regions.
- The Productivité innovation initiative aims to propel competitiveness forward and accelerate growth among homegrown businesses through productivity and innovation. The aim is for more businesses to take action by leveraging all forms of innovation and technologies and processes such as automation, digitization, robotization, and artificial intelligence applications.
Ministère de l’Économie et de l’Innovation on social media:
CED on social media:
Office of the Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions
Office of the Minister of Finance and Member for Groulx
Office of the Minister for the Economy
Advisor – Media and Government Affairs
Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions
Head of Media Relations
Ministère de l’Économie et de l’Innovation
Tel: 418-691-5698, ext. 4868
Senior Director – Media and Government Affairs
- Date modified:


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Endologix Says Cook Infringement Suit is Not Valid
October 14, 2009 – Endologix Inc., developer of minimally invasive treatments for aortic disorders, said yesterday it evaluated the patent infringement lawsuit filed against the company last week by Cook Medical and says the suit is without merit.
Endologix said it intends to vigorously defend its position. "We are pleased that our initial evaluation of these claims, which Cook Medical waited for years to assert, has already yielded support for numerous promising defenses," said John McDermott, Endologix president and CEO.
Endologix flagship product is the Powerlink System, which is an endovascular stent graft for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA).
For more information: www.endologix.com
More like this
- Cook Sues Endologix For Patent Infringement Over Aortic Aneurysm Endograft Technology
- Ruling May Aid Endologix Defense in Cook Stent Graft Patent Lawsuit
- Cook Wins Stent Graft Patent Infringement Appeal Filed By Edwards
- St. Jude Files Patent Lawsuit Against Volcano Over FFR Wires
- CryoCor Negates Patent Infringement

domain: news


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While electronics vendors struggle to gain traction in the emerging media tablet market, Apple has managed to maintain a significant lead in the space despite an increasing number of rival offerings. Apple’s share of the global tablet market in the third quarter was estimated to be 61.5% by market research firm IDC, and it’s not just momentum keeping the company’s market share high. Apple’s user experience on the iPad has been touted by many as having a huge lead over rival platforms, and the majority of iPad owners seem to agree according to the results of a recent survey. Read on for more. More →
Any disappointment that might have been expressed by onlookers as Apple unveiled its latest iPhone has not carried over to owners of the new smartphone. Apple’s iPhone 4S became the fastest-selling iPhone yet when Apple managed to move more than 4 million units during the handset’s debut weekend, and millions more have purchased the phone since then. According to new data from market research firm ChangeWave, the iPhone 4S is not only the fastest-selling iPhone to date, it also carries the highest level of satisfaction an iPhone has ever achieved. Read on for more. More →
For the fifth time running, Apple has topped J.D. Power’s smartphone customer satisfaction survey. The iPhone earned a score of 795 out of a possible 1,000 points. In line with the last survey published in September 2010, Motorola and HTC followed Apple with scores of 763 and 762, respectively. Here’s how J.D. Power weighs the various categories:
Operation (30%); physical design (30%); features (20%); and battery function (20%). For smartphones, the key factors are: ease of operation (26%); operating system (24%); physical design (23%); features (19%); and battery function (8%).
Palm (736), Nokia (734), and Samsung (734) all scored below the industry average score of 761. RIM’s BlackBerry smartphones ranked lowest on the survey with a score of 732. Hit the jump for a chart of the results along with the full release. More →
According to a recent J.D. Power and Associates survey of smartphone users, Apple, for the fourth consecutive time, ranks highest in customer satisfaction. The smartphone survey uses the following weighted categories to calculate a winner: operation (26%), operating system (24%), physical design (23%), features (19%), and battery function (8%). Apple ended up with a score of 800 out of a possible 1,000. Following hot on the heels of the iPhone maker was Motorola (791) and HTC (781). J.D. Power reports that the average score for a smartphone was 764; unsurprisingly, Nokia was ranked last in U.S. smartphone satisfaction with a score of 711. Other smartphone notables include, Research In Motion (737), Samsung (735), and Palm (726). In Samsung’s defense, the study was conducted from January of 2010 to June of 2010, before the company had
the Galaxy S a serious smartphone in the market. Hit the read link for the full report. More →
Apple recently sent out an iPhone 4 satisfaction survey to a select group of customers, and we have it in its entirety. Questions like, “What brand of mobile phone did the iPhone 4 replace”, and “Overall, how satisfied are you with your iPhone 4?” as well as many personal questions to study their buying audience. We have all the shots in our gallery for you to look at!


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Okay, so MTV didn’t actually use the word “Fall Back” but it is battle zone and all parties are ready for war! Warning: This is not for the faint at heart.
TMZ reports a writer by the name of Christopher Gambale is threatening a potential lawsuit against MTV Networks. Gambale claims he pitched an idea for a show to MTV in 2006. MTV rejected his idea but later emerged with the show ‘Jersey Shore.’ *Sigh* Where have we seen something like this? Yes. The recent Carlos Moore FELA! Copyright Infringement suit. Similar kind of suit here. Excerpts from TMZ:
“ . . .Christopher Gambale, claims he came up with a show called “Guidos: The Reality Series” back in 2006 which would focus on “stereotypical guidos and guidettes” doing things like “GTL before hitting the clubs.”
Dude says he pitched the idea to MTV … but never got a response — until he sent them a letter threatening to sue.”
Heather Windt an attorney and Vice President of Intellectual Property & Litigation for MTV responded in a letter that can best be summarized as, “Gambale, you are barking up the wrong tree. FALL BACK while it is still safe to do so or else there will be mud slinging.” Read the letter here.
We shall see how this ends. . .
Jersey Shore’s Nicole aka ‘Snooki’ on the David Letterman Show
Fashionentlaw™ is the brainchild of Uduak Oduok (Ms. Uduak), an ex-fashion model and industry veteran turned Fashion and Entertainment lawyer. The law blog discusses hot topics in pop culture arising primarily out of the fashion industry.
As a legal practitioner, Ms. Uduak has over two decades of experience counseling individuals and businesses within and outside the creative community. She has counseled designers, apparel manufacturers, models, photographers, retailers, graphic designers, musicians, public relations specialists, and athletes, among others, on diverse legal issues including business formation, licensing, trademark and copyright matters, contracts, intellectual property and contract disputes. She is also an Adjunct Professor.
To arrange a consultation to discuss your case, contact her today at 916-361-6506 or email (email@example.com).


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Cleveland Europe Express Moving Economy Full Steam Ahead
In service for a little over a year, the Cleveland-Europe
Express (CEE) has doubled its ports of call in Cleveland, seen
increases in amount being shipped and is showing promise to be a
global economic driver in Northeast Ohio.
Making its first voyage in May 2014, the CEE provides service
between the Cleveland Harbor and Europe, via the Saint Lawrence
Seaway. It is the only regularly scheduled international container
and non-containerized cargo service on the Great Lakes and is a
partnership between The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority
and Dutch company, The
Since that first voyage, interest in the service has steadily
increased with vessels now making ports of call twice a month in
Cleveland. Initially trips were made once a month.
In addition, international tonnage has increased 37 percent
compared with this time to 2014, and total volume of shipping
container traffic has increased more than 300 percent, according to
Dave Gutheil, Port Vice President of Maritime & Logistics.
“We are connecting Greater Cleveland to over 30 countries
across four continents now,” Gutheil said, “That is
critical for our region to compete in the global
The Port of
Cleveland is a key to Northeast Ohio’s global
competitiveness by providing the quickest route between North
America’s heartland and Northern Europe. The CEE allows
regional companies to ship their goods up to four days faster than
using water, rail and truck routes via the U.S. East Coast ports.
In addition, the Port of Cleveland provides direct access to major
highways and rail lines. In Northern Europe, The Spliethoff Group
has connections from the Port of Antwerp to Russia, Finland, Spain,
UK and the Baltic States.
“The Cleveland-Europe Express continues to grow and serve
Ohio and Midwest companies as we
envisioned,” said Will Friedman, Port President and CEO.
“Last year, the CEE attracted mostly break-bulk cargo, but
this year we are making significant inroads to the containerized
cargo market. This is further proof that the service is a winner
and here to stay.”
Annually the Port brings 13-million tons of cargo through the
Cleveland Harbor, and with it $1.8 billion in economic activity and
nearly 18,000 jobs. The City of Cleveland began shipping operations
at the Port of Cleveland in 1825. During its first year of
operation, the port recorded $38,000 in exports and imports of
$196,000. Today the Port of Cleveland is one of the largest ports
on the Great Lakes.


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Poland Takes Digital Leap with New Website
General Secretary Iga Zalisz Shares Insights on the Society's Digital Transformation
In a recent conversation with Iga Zalisz, the General Secretary of the Bible Society of Poland, we delved into the digital transformation of the Bible Society and the launch of its BibleBooster Essential web implementation. Iga provided valuable insights into the society's journey towards enhancing its digital presence, sharing the challenges and successes they've encountered.
The Bible Society of Poland embarked on this digital journey over a year ago, beginning with launching a new website. However, it wasn't until recently that the project took off, as the Polish public became more aware of the website and its online presence through social media channels. Iga explained that the society aimed to make the Bible readily available to all through its website, a significant step forward for an organisation that previously lacked online Bible reader and engagement features.
One of the most significant accomplishments of the Bible Society of Poland is including the Bible on their website, allowing users to read the Biblical text directly from their platform. This addition fills a crucial gap for society, as many other organisations, churches, and publishers had their translations available online, while the Bible Society did not. This newfound accessibility to the Bible online has received positive feedback from the public, a testament to the impact of this digital initiative.
Iga also highlighted other essential features of their website, such as integrating blogs with Bible verses. This feature enhances user navigation and engagement, allowing visitors to move between text and commentary seamlessly. Although still in its early stages, society has been actively promoting these features through social media and newsletters, working to ensure that their audience can efficiently utilise these tools.
One of the key takeaways from the conversation with Iga is the importance of user-friendliness. The Bible Society of Poland recognises that their website should cater not only to their own team but also to visitors who may be encountering it for the first time. Ensuring that users can easily find and navigate content, search for specific Bible verses, and engage with the website has been a primary goal.
The website's launch marks a significant shift in the Bible Society's mindset towards digital engagement. Iga mentioned that it's essential to change the culture within the organisation to prioritise digital initiatives. They have also embraced a user-centric approach and actively seek user feedback to enhance their digital offerings further.
Looking to the future, the Bible Society of Poland has plans to expand its digital presence, including the addition of login features and extra content within the BibleBooster website. This expansion aims to create a sense of community around society's digital platforms, particularly among young people. Furthermore, they plan to offer digital access to young audiences participating in confirmation classes or attending public schools, allowing them to interact with the Bible online.
Additionally, the Bible Society of Poland is actively working on integrating e-commerce capabilities and implementing Salesforce to gain more insight into their audience and potentially generate revenue.
Despite the challenges, the Bible Society of Poland remains committed to its digital journey. They have successfully initiated a culture shift within the organisation, recognising the importance of digital engagement in today's world. As they continue to improve and expand their digital offerings, they are poised to reach and impact a broader audience with the message of the Bible.
The Bible Society of Poland's transformation is an inspiring example of how even small teams can embrace digital tools to make their mission accessible and relevant in the modern age. It witnesses the enduring power of the Bible's message and the ability to adapt to changing times.


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TRENDS AND TRENDSETTERS IN SPECIALTY TOBACCO RETAILING
Cigar Bar Owner Ends Eminent Domain Fight
San Diego, CA - Opponents of the government's power to take private property bid farewell to one of their most celebrated San Diego fighters. Ahmad Mesdaq, owner of the Gran Havana Cigar and Coffee Lounge in San Diego's historic Gaslamp district, waged a spirited and costly legal battle to stop the city from taking his business to make way for a proposed Marriott Renaissance Hotel.
"I'm really exhausted, and I'm really depressed," he said. "I cannot fight this anymore. I'm burned out." In 2000, Mesdaq spent $2.5 million to buy and renovate the former warehouse he'd been leasing since 1994.
To take the property, the Centre City Development Corp., San Diego's downtown redevelopment agency, declared the site "blighted," a first step in eminent domain, a process enabling the government to condemn private property for a public benefit. In Mesdaq's case, the land surrounding his building - some old buildings and parking lots - were declared blighted. Mesdaq refused offers to sell to the hotel developer and CCDC. San Diego still must pay Mesdaq what a court decides is a fair market price; any cleanup costs could be deducted from that money.
With legal bills exceeding $500,000 and seeing few prospects for success in the courts, Mesdaq said he could no longer fight. He has been ordered to vacate the property by June 15 for demolition.
The case, which drew national attention, had support from property rights groups and was the subject of a documentary film - Grand Theft Building. The dispute has left Mesdaq financially and emotionally broken, he said. "I feel it's just wrong," he said.
Ontario Will Be Smoke-Free By 2006
Complete Retail Tobacco Display Ban in Place by 2008
Ontario became the seventh Canadian province to go smoke-free when its government passed the Smoke-Free Ontario Act on June 9. The government says it is the strictest anti-tobacco legislation in North America.
The new regulations ban smoking in all enclosed public places and workplaces as of May 31, 2006; toughen laws on tobacco sales to minors; and restrict the display of tobacco products in retail outlets. By May 31, 2008, there will be a complete ban on the display of tobacco products - particularly "power wall" display cases, which hold dozens of cigarette packages at a time.
Provincial Health Minister George Smitherman took a tough line and said affected establishments will have about a year to close their smoking areas, no exceptions. Veterans associations had asked for an exception to the ban but legion halls will also be covered by the legislation. Even so, minor exceptions were made for nursing homes, veterans hospitals and psychiatric centres as long as separate ventilation is provided.
The legislation was called a "crippling blow" to many small businesses across the province by Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association (CRFA) president Douglas Needham. "Business owners asked for a reasonable transition period to a full ban, but their concerns have been ignored," says Needham, adding that the regulations render hundreds of costly designated smoking rooms (DSRs) worthless.
"Hundreds of small business owners invested in DSRs in good faith to comply with municipal bylaws and now the provincial government is effectively expropriating them without compensation. Their investment has gone up in smoke," says Needham.
More than 700 businesses in Ontario have already built DSRs to comply with municipal smoking bylaws, at costs ranging from $15,000 to $300,000.
Bits & Pieces
- The majority of D.C. Council members have said they are open to exempting cigar bars from legislation that would ban smoking in all public places, including restaurants and bars. At least nine of the council's 13 members have expressed openness to a cigar-bar exemption after a public hearing on three anti-smoking bills this week. There are several competing bills being considered, however: one would exempt bars that earn at least 10 percent of their revenue from tobacco sales, while another has no exemption for cigar bars. but would exempt retail establishments that earn 75 percent of their revenue from tobacco and related products.
- Synergy Brands, Inc., plans to open the company's first major retail outlet and cigar club in Miami Lakes, Florida, in July with a grand opening celebration planned for fall of 2005. The Cigars Around the World retail store is expected to feature over 1,000 unique cigars, including both brand name, hand-made premium cigars as well as proprietary brands of Gran Reserve Corp., a unit of Synergy Brands.
- Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco has given up on a heavily promoted campaign for a $1-a-pack increase in cigarette taxes to give teachers a significant pay raise.
SMOKESHOP - June, 2005


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Families are now spending nearly $1 out of every $10 earned on gasoline. The last time Americans spent this much of their income on gas was July 2008, when oil prices spiked. Analysts expect the average price for 2011 to be higher than the previous record of $3.25 set in that same year.
More in Business
A Denver man and founder of an oil and gas royalty consulting firm has been accused of defrauding a Weld County landowner out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in mineral royalties.
Fast fashion retailer H & M said Tuesday that it will open a new location at the Premium Outlets in Thornton, making it an even dozen when it comes to its locations in the metro Denver area.
ALBUQUERQUE -- Scientists at a federal laboratory have helped to unravel some of the mysteries of a rare specimen of wire gold discovered at a Colorado mine more than 130 years ago.
The new owners of a drab office building at the corner of 15th and Curtis plan to give the structure a new face as part of an effort to better compete for tenants in fast-developing downtown Denver.


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British Telecom (BT) has entered the Internet price war, unveiling a range of packages that it claims will rival those available in the US.
The offers for home Internet users include a £15.25 per month fee for unlimited access at weekends and evenings, and a £29.25 per month fee for round-the-clock access. The range of offers, branded SurfTime, includes the cost of line rental and will be available from June 1.
BT’s move follows href="http://188.8.131.52/news/main_news_search.cfm?NewsID=1004">yesterday’s announcement by NTL - the UK’s biggest cable telephony company - that it will provide free Internet access from April 17.
The SurfTime offer also follows a speech made yesterday by UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, in which he declared that every Briton should expect access to the Internet within five years. He welcomed NTL’s offer, and urged BT to follow suit.
He said: “It is likely the Internet will be as ubiquitous and normal as electricity is today. We cannot accept a digital divide for businesses or for individuals.”


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UPDATE 1-Brazil job creation falls for second straight month
* Economy adds 120,440 jobs in June, worst result since 2009
* Weak industrial activity hits jobs creation in Brazil
BRASILIA, July 23 (Reuters) - Brazil's economy added a net 120,440 payroll jobs in June, the labor ministry said on Monday, fewer than the number of jobs added the previous month and in June 2011, as a slowdown in the local and global economy begins to weigh on the labor market.
Brazil was expected to add 151,000 jobs in June, according to a Reuters poll.
Job creation has fallen in the last two months as a lackluster manufacturing sector leads factories to hire fewer workers.
June's result was the worst for the month since 2009, when the country was still struggling with the fallout of the global financial crisis. The economy added 139,679 jobs in May and 215,393 jobs in June of 2011.
Brazil's robust job market has prevented the economy from falling into recession as a weakening industrial sector drags on growth. A buoyant services sector has been the main generator of new jobs so far this year.
Industries continued to add fewer jobs to the economy in June, underscoring the challenges of a sector that has struggled with a strong local currency, intense competition from abroad and high production costs.
In contrast, job creation in the services sector rose 0.19 percent in June, adding 30,141 jobs to the economy.
Services are generating new jobs in a wide range of businesses ranging from food catering to hotels and hospitals.
In an example of the strength of the services sector here, the franchise managing McDonald's Corp restaurants in Brazil is offering 340 job posts in Sao Paulo, the country's largest city.
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WATERTOWN, N.Y. (WWTI) — Just in time for summer, the Salmon Run Mall will operate under new hours.
Starting June 28, the Salmon Run Mall will extend its hours both on weekdays and weekends.
The new hours of operation will be from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Mondays through Saturdays, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.
However, various entertainment venues and anchor store hours may vary. Salmon Run Mall shoppers are encouraged to call ahead of visiting to confirm hours.
Specific hours can be found on the Salmon Run Mall website.


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Inside out: The challenges of getting panics right
It is really hard to get panics right. Panic scheduling is especially tricky. Panic too soon and the problem can be solved and the panic is wasted. Panic too late and nothing can be done and again the panic is wasted.
Even more challenging is to figure out what to do in a panic that is better than that which you would do if you had not panicked. Many in the media would have us panic over COVID-19, the new novel corona virus. And many have responded, some in what seems to me to be peculiar ways.
Some people have chosen to stockpile (hoard is such a pejorative word) toilet paper, sanitary wipes, face masks, hand santizier and the like. Understandable. Yet this surge buying has driven the prices of some goods on line to absurd levels. Surgical masks, regularly selling for $14.99, have gone for $387. Some have paid hundreds of dollars for hand sanitizers. A video from Australia shows women fighting over toilet paper in a store.
One of the biggest increases in demand is for oat milk. I had never heard of oat milk and am still uncertain how oats are milked. Yet, in response to vegan concerns and the corona virus, sales recently are up over 400 percent. Of the vegetable-based “milks,” oat milk is among the highest in calories and carbohydrates and apparently has a superior shelf life. Pretzels and fruit snacks have also show recent but less dramatic sales increases. Pretzels I can identify with.
The federal government has just passed a bill funding $8.2 billion to fight COVID-19. I am not sure whether this represents panic or not. Some may be reassured so much money is allocated to the fight. The most effective way of mitigating the disease and its spread appears to be hand washing. Lots of hand washing awareness can be purchased for $8.2 billion.
Research will be sponsored and I am sure pharmaceutical companies benefiting will show some appreciation in the form of campaign donations. Surely money will be channeled through unions and other groups giving contributions to politicians and their political action committees. Is it too much to hope for that someone will conscientiously follow this money to assure it is well spent?
All the states surrounding New Mexico, except the Mexican state of Chihuahua, have reported COVID-19 cases. I have decided to peremptorily panic in anticipation of future restrictions on dining out. I plan to eat out locally a lot now, realizing that options might become restricted.
I may institute additional panic measures when cases are reported in Lordsburg, Silver City, Las Cruces, Palomas, or Deming. I am baffled, however, as to just what those measures might be.
By the time cases are reported in the area, other unreported cases or infections from those reported cases may have already spread infections beyond containment. I guess I will be more conscientious in washing my hands. My desperation will likely not extend to paying big bucks for hand sanitizers or masks. I will try to keep an adequate supply of toilet paper on hand.
Panic would seem to be a human entitlement. My hope is all who panic at least receive some satisfaction, if not enjoyment, from it. It is hard to get it right.
Don Heacox can be reached at email@example.com.


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The editors suggest checking out the following links:
WSJ: China Inc. Runs the Bulls – Chinese firms are increasingly reliant on stock market investments to boost profits
China to focus on small food producers – Yahoo! News
Emerging China – A new online business magazine covering central and western China, from Maria Trombly’s company
Reuters: China blames Internet for rise in teen pregnancies – “Nearly half of the pregnant teens in China’s financial hub, Shanghai, met their partners on the Internet, state media said on Tuesday.”
Subscribe to our recommended reading feed or browse our previous recommendations at del.icio.us
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Steel Authority Profit Misses Analyst Estimates on Lower PricesRajesh Kumar Singh and Abhishek Shanker
Steel Authority of India Ltd., the nation’s second-biggest producer, posted a worse-than-expected 72 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit as weak demand led to a decline in prices.
Net income for the three months ended March 31 dropped to 4.47 billion rupees ($80 million) from 15.8 billion rupees a year earlier, the New Delhi-based company said today in an exchange filing. The median profit of 26 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg was 8.3 billion rupees. Sales fell 9 percent to 122 billion rupees.
India’s steel consumption grew at 3.3 percent in the year ended March 31, the slowest pace in four years, following a drop in car sales and construction. Waning demand and higher imports from Japan and South Korea caused prices to fall.
The company sold 3.24 million metric tons of steel in the quarter, little changed from a year earlier. Net sales realization fell 11 percent to 34,489 rupees a ton in the last quarter from a year ago, Chairman C.S. Verma said in a press conference after the earnings were released.
Lower prices eroded Steel Authority’s revenue by 13.5 billion rupees in the last quarter, Verma said. Hot-rolled steel coil, a benchmark product used in automobiles and buildings, declined 10 percent to an average 39,170 rupees, according to Bloomberg calculations based on data from Metal Bulletin.
The shares fell 1.2 percent to 59.05 rupees at close in Mumbai. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.3 percent.
A drop in raw material prices cushioned the profit decline. Benchmark prices of coking coal, a key steelmaking ingredient, slumped to a record $165 a ton during the quarter amid a drop in demand from China and Japan, the world’s largest importer, and rising production in Australia, South Africa and Mongolia. Steel Authority imports about 70 percent of its coking coal needs.
Total costs fell 5 percent to 116 billion rupees, while finance costs surged 78 percent to 2.15 billion rupees, according to the statement.


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Chief executive Elon Musk has said he axed offering grey ticks and an “Official” label to high-profile Twitter accounts within hours of rolling them out because it was “an aesthetic nightmare”.
It comes as the platform prepares to start allowing any user to sign up for its blue-tick verification badge by signing up to the firm’s Twitter Blue subscription service and paying a monthly fee.
In response to concerns that this would make it harder to identify authentic accounts on the site, as Blue subscribers will not be required to verify who they are, Twitter announced it was adding a second, “Official” badge to select accounts as a way of distinguishing Blue subscribers from those the platform has verified as official.
Some industry commentators argued the new double-verification process would only make the system more confusing.
The platform was responsive to the criticism, rolling back on the move just hours after the new grey Official badge had begun to appear on a number of high-profile accounts, including those for major news organisations and public figures.
Mr Musk defended the decision during a live “Town Hall” discussion with advertisers on Wednesday.
Speaking via the platform’s Twitter Spaces feature, which allows users to join in on live audio discussions, the Twitter boss said that the Official system was “an aesthetic nightmare”.
“The problem with Official is that, apart from it being an aesthetic nightmare when looking at the Twitter feed, is that it was simply another way of creating a two-class system,” he said.
“Therefore, it wasn’t addressing the core problem (that) there are too many entities that would be considered official or have sort of legacy blue check marks.”
Instead, Mr Musk said that they would be “extremely vigorous” about eliminating deception.
“But I go back to what I said earlier, which is that we’re going to be extremely vigorous about eliminating deception,” he said.
“So if someone tries to impersonate a brand, that account will be suspended, and we will keep their eight dollars.
“And they can keep doing that, and we will just keep their eight dollars again, and again – great – we can do it all day long, they will stop.
“So the key point here is if an account is engaged in trickery, we will suspend it.
“They will try, of course, they will try.
“But it starts to get expensive, and they will start to need a lot of credit cards and a lot of phones – and eventually they will stop paying.”
The changes to the verification system have been a central part of Mr Musk’s plans since the billionaire completed his takeover of the site last month.
Mr Musk said opening the verification process up to more people will help democratise Twitter and cut down on the spam and bot accounts on the site.
However, critics have argued charging people to get a blue badge and the other perks that come with it – including verified replies appearing more prominently – will only help those who are able to pay for it and not the platform’s authentic users as a whole.
The introduction of the eight dollar (£7) monthly fee for Twitter Blue is also part of Mr Musk’s efforts to create new revenue streams for Twitter.
Twitter usage is at an all-time high lol
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 8, 2022
The platform is currently almost entirely dependent on money from advertising – an income stream already shrinking because of the global economic downturn.
There have also been reports advertisers could withdraw from the site if Mr Musk enacts some of his other controversial plans for Twitter, including allowing banned accounts such as that of Donald Trump to return.


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The startup boom of the past decade is still very much in full swing, although its precise locations around the world are constantly changing. Numerous countries around the world have recognized the importance of startup culture and the entrepreneurial activity to their local economies, providing numerous benefits and creating a positive environment for startup development. Here is an overview of countries around the world providing the best framework for startup development. Even though they are the leading nations in terms of startup ecosystems, we are omitting The United States and the United Kingdom in favor of other, less obvious countries around the world.
With more than a 1,000 startups established in 2017 alone, India has solidified its standing as the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem. The cities of Bangalore, New Delhi and Mumbai are still the centers of India’s startup boom, but recent trends show an expansion onto other cities, with about 20% of total Indian startups emerging outside of major cities.
India is firmly in the sights of all major global investors and angel groups, with the total funding for Indian tech companies reaching $9.6 billion throughout the first three quarters of 2017. The Indian government has done its share in stimulating the startup growth, launching a $1.5 billion startup fund in 2016 and pushing through a number of tax benefits for startups and their investors.
The ever-so-pedantic Germans have established a healthy startup ecosystem that’s growing by the year. 2017 has been a banner year for German startups, with the total amount of investments reaching €4,3 billion, almost doubling the sum of €2,3 billion from the previous year.
The interesting thing about Germany’s startup scene is that it is greatly decentralized, with startup hubs spread all across the country, and not just around several major cities. Still, Berlin, Munich, and Hamburg – the three traditional business motors of the country – are the largest startup cities in Germany and among the largest in all of Europe. Another benefit of establishing a startup in Germany is the relatively low priced office space in the above mentioned major cities. The German government has responded to the growing trends by establishing a program that will invest €2 billion in startups over the course of ten years.
The Eastern European country earns the place on a list not for the total number of startups or the volume of investment, but for its emergence as the region’s tech hub and a clear intention by the government to further boost the startup growth with a number of measures implemented to create a favorable ecosystem.
Starting in 2017, the government has passed a number of regulations encouraging foreign investment and starting companies on Hungary’s soil. From tax exemptions to government funds, the country has embraced the startup culture as a way forward.
Additionally, Hungary is one of the most favorable countries for business immigration. The current Hungarian business immigration plan offers a plethora of benefits for entrepreneurs looking for business residency or citizenship in the country.
Even in the conditions of chronic political and economic instability of recent years, the Brazilian startup scene has continued to grow and develop to become the leading entrepreneurial nation in South America. The annual volume of startup investments routinely exceeds $1 billion, and the country’s tech sector has scored the 10th highest rate of growth in the whole world.
There are numerous government programs that provide funds for startups, and private investment funds are also actively looking to jump on the expanding Brazilian startup bandwagon. With a number of Brazilian startups aiming at global expansion, the investors’ attention will be firmly placed on South America’s tech leader.
The smallest country on our list also boasts some of the most impressive entrepreneurial numbers. Aided by government’s innovative policies and a phenomenal startup environment, Singapore has overtaken Silicon Valley as the world’s main draw for startup talent.
The government has gone to great lengths to subsidize startups, and investors are very active in Southeast Asia’s leading tech country. In 2017, Singapore startups have seen a total volume of investments of $1,2 billion and accounted for more than 70% of total investments in the region. And with predictions showing a strong intent for global expansion among Singapore’s startups, the country’s startup growth is bound to continue.


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Nanaimo’s chamber of commerce is frustrated with amended COVID-19 guidelines recently announced by the province.
The B.C. government expanded restrictions this week, prohibiting indoor organized social events and gatherings, shuttering fitness facilities, dance studios, bars and nightclubs, reducing seating capacity at arenas and theatres to 50 per cent and limiting restaurants, cafés and pubs to six people per table. The restrictions will remain in effect until at least Jan. 18.
Kim Smythe, Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce CEO, said some business owners are vexed by the rules, which they see as illogical.
“It’s really challenging … You can’t have over six at a table in a restaurant, but can have 6,000 at a hockey game? That’s where people are asking these questions,” said Smythe. “At face value, it just doesn’t look like it makes any sense and that’s, I think, where you’re getting people who are super frustrated.”
The holiday season used to be a boon for bars and while restrictions will be “terrible,” Smythe said the 11 days’ notice is better than the last-minute restrictions imposed right before New Year’s a year ago.
“That’ll prevent them from spending money on supplies that they don’t need, which is going to be different than last year,” said Smythe. “Of course, they’re going to have to recalculate their budgets, everything based on the fact that one of the biggest nights of the year is taken away from them. I think for bars, it’s going to be brutal.”
B.C.’s Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon announced Thursday, Dec. 23, that businesses impacted by the latest COVID-19 public health orders will be able to apply for a one-time relief grant up to $10,000, calculated based on number of employees.
“We’re all exhausted by COVID-19, but unfortunately COVID-19 is not done with us…” said Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon. “I encourage everyone in B.C. to support impacted local businesses, including businesses that have been forced to close by buying gift cards and memberships for future use.”
Smythe said the Government of Canada’s emergency wage subsidy was beneficial to businesses earlier in the pandemic and he is hoping that is “quickly and easily” reintroduced for the short-term.
“I know that [CEWS] was most helpful for a lot of businesses, as well as the non-repayable loans, where they gave $40,000, and $20,000, but you could keep $10,000 of each of those, and use the balance of the money to support you and keep your business thriving, and then pay that back. And they gave it quite a big window there too,” said Smythe.
The government has introduced, relaxed and re-introduced rules during the pandemic. Smythe said he understands the plight of business owners.
“Every time we get a new series of restrictions or guidelines, or mandates, it just drives everybody crazy and everybody gets frustrated,” said Smythe. “Whether you’re trying to run a business or you’re a customer, it’s like, ‘Am I allowed to go there now?’ or ‘Am I not allowed to go there?’ Confusion reigns supreme.”


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- Amazon has launched Storefronts as a new section of the web commerce platform dedicated exclusively to ALL OF US SMBs (small and medium-sized businesses) featuring more than 1 million items from 20, 000 US SMBs organized across 25 different item segments.
- The company is certainly kicking off the launch of Storefronts with a national TV campaign displaying its support for SMB proprietors.
- With more than half of the items sold on Amazon from SMBs, the particular move demonstrates the company’ s i9000 intent to foster a robust pool associated with SMB merchants.
Amazon on Monday announced Storefronts , a brand new section of its website that will function more than a million products from more than 20, 000 US small plus medium-sized businesses. Products will be offered across 25 different categories, which includes home, pet supplies, books and much more.
The effort is designed to support SMBs at the platform . According to Amazon, over fifty percent of the items sold on the site are usually from small and medium-sized companies. Storefronts will offer consumers the ability to search and shop for products exclusively through SMBs on Amazon.
“ We’ ve created a customized, one-stop shopping experience for customers searching for interesting, innovative and high-quality items from American businesses from all over the country, ” said Amazon VP Nicholas Denissen.
Along with giving SMBs a dedicated space on the site, the Storefronts home page will include the “ Storefront of the week” video clip each week featuring different SMBs on the website.
To promote the release of Storefronts, Amazon is moving out a national television ad-campaign that highlights Amazon’ s initiatives to support small and medium-sized companies.
According to a Small Business Impact review published by Amazon . com in May of this year, the company estimations it has created over 900, 500 jobs attached to the more than one million SMBs selling on the platform. In 2017 alone, Amazon . com says more than 300, 000 ALL OF US small and medium-sized businesses started selling on the site.
“ Since we started selling upon Amazon in October 2016, the sales have nearly doubled. Because of our success, we have been able to employ new team members from our community, which includes full and part-time jobs, ” says the co-founder of Small Flower Soap Co., the business proprietor featured in Amazon’ s TELEVISION spot promoting the launch associated with Storefronts.
During this year’ t Prime Day , Amazon documented that SMBs that took component in the 36-hour discounted shopping occasion generated more than $1 billion within sales.
If you liked Amazon’s new ‘Storefronts’ gives SMBs an ardent channel to sell by Amy Gesenhues Then you'll love Marketing Services Miami


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Amazon launches essentials and grocery delivery in Kolkata
Amazon India, which launched its services in essentials and grocery under brand Amazon Fresh, has now expanded in Kolkata along with a few other cities, the company said on Thursday.
The ecommerce major had also added Ahmedabad, Pune, and Chennai in the second phase. It had already launched the service similar to hyper local in cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Delhi-NCR taking presence in total of eight cities.
"With this expansion of Amazon Fresh, the company now has more than 25 such Amazon Fresh centres, with a three-fold increase in processing space," company officials said.
"The investment in these specialised centres is in line with our long-term commitment to invest in India and create hundreds of job opportunities."
"We have ramped up our operational capabilities in cities where we already offered this service, and added four new cities ahead of the festive season to meet customer needs," Amazon India VP Fulfilment Operations and Supply Chain Prakash Kumar Dutta said.
The specialised infrastructure is designed to ensure safe storage of products in the category with freezer and refrigeration zones, special packaging for frozen food among others, the company said.
The online delivery of essentials and grocery space saw huge traction with new big players like Jio Mart, Flipkart, and Amazon. Bigbasket and Grofers are existing major players in this space.
According to estimates, online grocery is likely to grow at a CAGR (compound annual rate of growth) of 50 percent between FY 20-24.
Earlier this month, the Seattle-based ecommerce giant announced its entry into the online food delivery space in a few pin codes in Bengaluru. Several media reports had announced that the ecommerce player launched in several parts of the country in May 2020.
According to sources, Amazon will first launch its service in Bengaluru during the Diwali season, and the service will be available on its Prime Now app.
(Disclaimer: Additional background information has been added to this PTI copy for context)
Edited by Megha Reddy


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Since last June, a Federal Aviation Administration Panel advisory panel has been gearing up to finalize its recommendation on how the agency could maybe perhaps allow the use of personal electronic devices during flights. That means you could be listening to music, texting, emailing and otherwise tapping away on your whathaveyou during landing and takeoff instead of gripping the armrests like your life depends on it. If that’s your thing, that is.
The FAA panel had until this month to finalize its recommendation and it appears it’s all set: The panel will recommend that the FAA tell airlines how to allow use of e-mail, text and Web surfing as well as allowing e-readers and MP3 players during takeoff and landing, a person familiar with the report told Bloomberg News.
It still won’t be okay to call anyone on your phone during flights, as the FAA maintains that phone signals can interfere with ground towers in cellular networks.
This is no casual recommendation tossed into the ring to appease grumpy customers — the panel has been collecting info on how to update the rules while also seeking public comment since January 2013.
“The FAA recognizes consumers are intensely interested in the use of personal electronics aboard aircraft. That is why we tasked a government-industry group to examine the safety issues and the feasibility of changing the current restrictions,” the FAA said in a statement. “We will wait for the group to finish its work before we determine next steps.”
Translation: No, you cannot jam out to Kenny Loggins during takeoff. Not yet. But it seems that day will come sooner rather than later.
WHO’S FOR IT?
Passengers, probably: A survey found four out of 10 airline travelers want to use personal devices during landing and takeoff, and about a third in the poll said they were guilty of accidentally leaving a device on when it shouldn’t be.
CTIA-The Wireless Association + Amazon: The Washington trade group represents mobile companies and banded together with the online retail giant to urge the FAA to relax the rules last year, saying personal electronics don’t cause interference.
Delta: Last year Delta said it was cool with wider use of electronics because its passengers wanted it.
The Association of Flight Attendants: The largest U.S. flight-attendant union said in comments that it didn’t want passengers using the devices, because even if they don’t cause interference, devices could go flying in a crash. As such, they should be stowed like purses and handbags.
United: The airline said it would rather no changes go into place because they’d be too hard to enforce.


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Alejandro Suárez Sánchez-Ocaña. TIME-sector employer since 1998, the Group CEO and Publispain Network blogs Entertainment Networks SL President Inversora Foley, Director and Founding Partner of Yes.fm, consultant and investor in several companies for innovation, new technologies and the Internet.
A creative example of the Milwaukee River Association to keep the rivers clean:
Yesterday leia Julio Alonso said that "the crisis comes: advertising in the first quarter of 2008, and Carlos Blanco that took months to discuss and monitor the crisis, saying" Spectacular crisis offline media "and see that Here is what some of us saw it coming, and it is not the crisis, which has already arrived is the fear of the industry, which is possibly worse than the crisis itself. (incidentally, I strongly recommend reading both post)
Fear makes the investment contract and the money, which is always a coward, is hidden. On one occasion I have commented on this blog about the Internet is going to suffer unless the crisis is coming (Yes, I believe that this is only a preamble and that the worst will come in January-February and will remain in 2009) but obviously the industry is not immune suffered.
We see the fall of offline advertising significantly in the first half as Infoadex in almost all sectors. The odd thing is that while significant falls, is more significant progress, January, February and March have not been so hard, the second quarter is where it has come almost in free fall. However, the key will be how the advertising on the Internet in the last half of the year, especially as it is distributed internally branding, affiliation, email marketing etc). Internet theoretically in this period has risen by 28% (has anyone noticed? I do not, Google does not have your data )
Eating a few dates with a great guy who does not even know personally, Juan Agustin Jimenez of CanalMail, he confessed that he believed that companies like yours engaged in Email Marketing, or as zanox and Shop All dedicated to membership and sales were suffer fewer effects of the crisis, ventured to suggest that advertising branding was to refuge in this type of product online looking for 1 to 1 on sale, and even strengthen their budgets to cut investment in basic movies, magazines and radio mainly. However, John Augustine confessed that I expected to also affect your company, possibly less than others, but in any sector of online advertising will remain outside the years to come.
Also in recent weeks detected a trend by Media Centers that customers call "ideas", they want special actions to highlight and take the lead and do not always formats. This is where independent companies and agile you will measure its anti: ended comfort.
A side effect is coming ... A great online marketing agency at the international level, I began to confess to some financial troubles, customers canceled campaigns, change their investment strategies and plans and shrink it. One of the major advertising agencies in Spain and cutting regardless of their large number of carriers to optimize their media Premium and minimize the impact of the crisis. Suffice it to say that Movistar, the country's number one advertiser, 4-5 months ago decided to cut its global advertising budget by nearly 6 million Euros.
Or do not want this note on the Internet. Beginning to see an exodus that reminds me of that happened in 93. Some players are considering leaving the sector, and seek a way out, but found no money in most cases. To Talk, in the past 15 days we have been offered the purchase of 2 and 4 Blogs networks of key high-traffic portals. One of these purchases we closed yesterday and we will announce soon. You might even run another in the coming weeks. But the significance of this is that it is vertigo and some want to go out and save the furniture in anticipation that we are only beginning to see the wolf ears.
At this juncture, a group of geeks will launch soon, in a few days, the closed beta Yes.fm, an ambitious, very ambitious, which unfortunately will be available in hard times, but even so, we have strong reasons to be very optimistic.
I see the imminent launch of the Iphone in Spain as a major new opportunity for the Internet.
Firstly I think that is going to notice much in the seasonality of the industry. Generally, the use of the network on a professional level has fallen drastically in one summer, I believe that tools such as the Iphone is going to change much. 120,000 people signed up within 24 hours to receive information from the launch of the new and improved 3G Iphone with Telefónica Móviles. I have confidence in the operator and the figure now exceeds 500,000 users who have asked to be notified of the launch.
For this purpose the device will emerge that all we want to dedicate to the Internet, it is very important that the navigation charges are reasonable. Of course the most sensible approach would be a flat rate to 3 G speed without any limits, as is expected to happen in countries like Switzerland, Germany, France, USA and Japan, but of course here in Spain that will not happen At least input.
Leo in telefonos.net which seems more than a rumor on the charges confirmed that Telefonica Moviles, which will offer exclusive to all users. First, 2 terminals 8Gb and 16GB respectively at a high of 99 € and 199 € with an obligation to stay 24 months. The most interesting is the advancement of charges: a flat fee and unlimited Iphone it would cost € 15 a month, reducing the download speed of 200Mbs passing and another Iphone Plus flat rate of 25 € a month, where the speed of discharge would be reduced from 1Gb.
The presence of the Iphone will do much harm to competition Movistar, especially Vodafone which had just a specialized niche of average height, use of 3G services and a more user-quality Movistar. Of the 500,000 interested in the iPhone, many users are certainly other players who will not to return.
The important thing is that if "place", as they say, 600.000-900.000 terminal in the coming 12 months, can be a total revolution in mobile internet and arrived at last, now if the real beginning of the mobile Internet, beyond segments specialist today and navigate using your Blackberry. It might be the time of the actual evolution of the Internet to mobile devices that bring years of talking. Yo, today HTC and Blackberry users ask mine.
Alejandro Suarez's blog.


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A Series A funding round worth £3 million has been raised by video engagement technology business Rockabox.
Notion Capital has teamed up with fellow investors Frog Capital and fourteen17 to back London-based Rockabox.
The five year-old business provides distribution and engagement tools for video advertising and is used by companies such as Honda and Diesel.
New backer Notion Capital is a cloud computing and software-as-a-service investor which was set up by the entrepreneurs who set up Star and MessageLabs.
According to a report by eMarketer published in 2012, video is expected to achieve a 14.5 per cent share of the $100 billion digital advertising market – of which Rockabox is hoping to secure a share.
The £3 million it has now banked will go towards expansion into new markets, from its bases in London and Barcelona, as well as investment in its software platform.
Rockabox CEO and co-founder James Booth says that the need to demonstrate return on investment from video content is growing amongst brands.
‘Rockabox’s unique HTML5 technology, helps brands extract the most value from their content by dramatically increasing engagement amongst premium audiences across all devices,’ he adds.
Notion Capital’s backing of Rockabox follows on from other 2013 investment deals including NewVoiceMedia and Duedil. It also scooped Equity Gap Fund of the Year at the GrowthBusiness Investor AllStars awards in September.
Jos White, partner at Notion Capital, comments, ‘We believe the future of internet will be dominated by video, and Rockabox enables brands to exploit the full potential of their video content.
‘The Rockabox team are proven visionaries in the market and we couldn’t be more excited to be involved in their latest venture.’
Before setting up Rockabox with Torie Chilcott, Booth was the CEO of digital marketing services business Tangozebra – and subsequently sold it to DoubleClick/Google in 2007.


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Apple has never had a strong stance on the use of cryptocurrency, that is, till now. The Cupertino tech major might be looking at the prospect of including cryptocurrency as part of its payment solutions if a recent job listing by the firm is anything to go by.
Apple is looking for someone experienced in cryptocurrency and other alternative payment solutions to join its Apple Wallet team. The company has posted a new job opening this week, titled “Business Development Manager Alternative Payments.”
As spotted by CoinDesk first, the position lists cryptocurrency as one of the “key qualifications” required for application. What’s more, the company is asking for a work experience of 5 or more years with alternative payment providers, like digital wallets, BNPL, Fast Payments, as well as cryptocurrency.
In addition, the job role requires more than 10 years of professional experience with 6+ years in business or market development at multiple financial services firms. The chosen candidate will join the Apple Wallets, Payments, and Commerce team or the WPC team.
The job posting is a part of Apple’s attempt at establishing new Alternative Payments Partnerships. Through the listing, the company requires a proven professional who can enable alternative and emerging payment solutions on Apple’s existing services.
This position might be the only public indication that Apple has provided in recent years over its outlook on Cryptocurrency. Back in 2019, the tech major mentioned that it was “watching cryptocurrency” for its Apple Pay services, but no headstrong development has been made in this space since then.
If it wants to, Apple can make significant strides in this segment that is largely untapped as the traditional banking majors remain sceptical of cryptocurrencies. Apple can possibly integrate a cryptocurrency exchange desk or simply accept cryptocurrency payments on its Apple Wallet. Alternately, it can invest directly in cryptocurrencies, much like Tesla did by buying Bitcoins earlier this year.
Whichever option it goes for, it will be interesting to see the world’s top technology company engage in the world of cryptocurrencies, i.e. if it chooses to do so.


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Carl’s Jr(R). and Hardee’s(R) are putting it in high gear with Dr Pepper(R) and giving away the highly-anticipated, all new 2010 Chevy Camaro. Starting this week, guests who purchase a large beverage or combo meal at both chains will receive a “Dr Pepper Camaro” instant-win game cup. Each cup contains a tasty offer to be used toward future food purchases, as well as a unique game code. On June 24th, customers can then visit www.DrPepperCamaro.com to register and insert the code to reveal if they have won one of six all new 2010 Chevy Camaro cars to be given away during the six-week promotion. Additional prizes include remote control Camaro cars and Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s gift cards.
“Our core loyal customers of ‘young, hungry guys’ love three things: great burgers, fast cars and hot women,” says Brad Haley, EVP of Marketing for Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s. “This promotion gives us the opportunity to reward our fans with, at the very least, the first item on that list, great burgers, along with a chance to win the second item on that list – a hot car. They are on the own with the third one, but the car could help.”


text: The SWsoft-funded OpenVZ project Monday released its OS-level server virtualization software in the form of a kernel build for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 (RHEL4), plus enhancements that the company said will provide users with additional flexibility.For example, now OpenVZ virtual environments can be called by designated names, rather than simply numeric IDs. Also, it is now possible to set the number of processors available to specific virtual environments for more granular performance tuning.The RHEL4 kernel build is said to improve support for new hardware such as the latest gigabit Ethernet and SCSI adapters. The OpenVZ software release includes:\n\nCheckpointing and live migration: freezes a virtual environment and stores it for restoration on another server.\n\nVirtual Ethernet device support: allows network devices to be created inside virtual environments using designated names and hardware addresses that are different from the actual physical device."We continue to set a fast pace of software delivery to make available better and better technology with more and more capabilities," said project manager Kir Kolyshkin. "Within the past two weeks, we announced OpenVZ as part of the Debian distribution, and now we\u2019re providing an update with more value for the user community."OpenVZ technology is built on Linux and enables multiple virtual machines\u2014or virtual environments, as the project calls them\u2014atop a single kernel. According to OpenVZ, this enables greater server utilization and superior availability with fewer performance penalties. The virtual servers ensure that applications do not conflict and can be rebooted independently.-Manek Dubash, Techworld.comCheck out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage.


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The LG V60 ThinQ 5G (pronounced “thin-queue”) is a premium phone that’s poised to compete with the Samsung Galaxy S20. Similar to the LG V50 ThinQ and the G8X ThinQ from last year, the V60 works with a Dual Screen case that essentially adds a second display to the phone.
LG hasn’t announced availability dates and prices yet, but the company said that the V60 will be cheaper than the Galaxy S20, which currently starts at $999 (£899, AU$1,499 for the 5G versions). Whether that means the V60 ends up being $998 or $100, I don’t know. But since last year’s G8X cost about $780, I anticipate the V60 would start around that price or likely higher. LG’s first 5G phone, the V50, launched with an initial price of $1,152, so the fact that its successor will be cheaper already signals that more affordable 5G phones are indeed in the making.
LG V60 hands-on: A Galaxy S20 alternative with a dual…
Though 5G deployment kicked off in 2019, more will take place throughout this year and next. As such, though you may not have 5G in your area now, the next generation of high-speed mobile data could be coming to your market later. In the US, the V60 will be available from AT&T, T-Mobile, US Cellular and Verizon. It’s LG’s second 5G phone for the US, and more 5G devices are expected to come down the pipeline not only from LG, but from other phone-makers as well.
Design: Big screen, big phone
Compared to last year’s V50, which had a 6.4-inch display, the V60 has an even larger 6.8-inch OLED display. That extra real estate does make viewing YouTube videos and browsing the internet more comfortable, and colors are indeed rich and vibrant. But the phone is also very large. If you have a small grip like mine, maneuvering with one hand will be tricky. And once I added the accessory case, I could forget about fitting it at all in my pants pocket. The case’s grooved back, which has ridges running vertically down its back, doesn’t help with the bulk either. Last year’s V50 was just smooth plastic and I’m not sure why LG didn’t go with the same look.
Taking advantage of the Dual Screen does require some time to learn. When I first got my hands on a preproduction unit, I found myself tapping around the screen several times to find specific actions, even though I already had a chance to use this accessory last year. But after a while, I did get the hang of it. With the Dual Screen you can use one display as a virtual game controller that you can customize, or multitask on both screens, or expand certain apps across the whole thing like a tablet. Keep in mind though that there’s still a big hinge that cuts right down the middle. It will obstruct videos and apps in expanded view, so it’s definitely not the same kind of seamless folding experience as, say, the new Motorola Razr or Galaxy Z Flip. That being said, there are other advantages — you can use the case as a kickstand, for example, and it’s entirely removable.
Exactly how the case will be bundled with the purchase of the phone will vary from carrier to carrier, so keep an eye out for any restrictions. Last year, a few US carriers included the case for free. But after a limited time, users had to pay extra for it, and carriers like AT&T ended its two-for-one deal.
Camera: Doing more with less
Unlike some premium phones today that have three, four or even more cameras, the LG V60 has two rear cameras. This isn’t a deal-breaker for me though; having more cameras does give me more photo options, but two is more than enough for most people. The setup includes a 13-megapixel wide-angle lens and a 64-megapixel standard camera. You can take photos with the latter at full resolution, but there is also an option to shoot images in a 16-megapixel resolution that yields the same kind of closeup, crop job as a telephoto lens. This is due to a technique called “pixel binning,” which at its most basic, combines a sensors’ pixels. While this method decreases resolution (by a factor of four), it improves the camera’s performance in low-light conditions.
On the back there’s also a third time-of-flight camera for AR and depth-sensing applications, like selfie stickers and LG’s native 3D photo effect, which is new to the V60. This lets you take portrait pictures with a moving sense of depth — you may have seen similar photos posted on Facebook. The feature is a bit rough around the edges, though. When I took a photo holding up a peace sign, the depth effect ended up being grayed out and wonky around my fingers and flyaway hair.
You can capture 8K video too, and digitally zoom up to 10x. Keep in mind that Samsung‘s latest Galaxy S20 phones can also record footage in 8K, and the S20 and S20 Plus has a digital zoom up to 30x. (The S20 Ultra can zoom up to 100x using both digital and optical zoom combined.) On the front is a hole-punch, 10-megapixel camera for all your selfies.
I only had the chance to take a few shots with the camera during my time with it, but so far the images looked great. I particularly liked how the phone handled low light and white balance in these two shots. Even though the lighting was dim and warmly orange in this room, the photos still have a lot of detail, and colors look accurate.
Other LG V60 features and specs
One standout feature of the V60 is that it has a headphone jack. Unlike most high-end phones available today, the phone still has that beloved audio port so you can plug in your wired headphones. The phone also runs Android 10, has wireless charging, an in-screen fingerprint reader and it’s water resistant. For more specs, check out our chart below.
LG V60 vs. Galaxy S20 and Pixel 4 XL
||LG V60 ThinQ 5G||Samsung Galaxy S20||Google Pixel 4 XL|
|Display size, resolution||6.8-inch OLED; 2,460×1,080 pixels||6.2-inch AMOLED||6.3-inch OLED; 1,440×3,040 pixels|
|Dimensions (inches)||6.67 x 3.06 x 0.35 in.||2.72 x 5.97 x 0.311 in.||2.9 x 6.3 x 0.3 in.|
|Dimensions (millimeters)||169.3 x 77.6 x 8.79 mm||69.1 x 151.7 x 7.9 mm||75.1 x 160.4 x 8.2 mm|
|Weight (ounces, grams)||7.72 oz.; 218g||5.75 oz.; 163g||6.8 oz.; 193g|
|Mobile software||Android 10||Android 10||Android 10|
|Camera||64-megapixel (standard), 13-megapixel (wide-angle), time-of-flight camera||12-megapixel (wide-angle), 64-megapixel (telephoto), 12-megapixel (ultrawide)||12.2-megapixel (standard), 16-megapixel (telephoto)|
|Processor||Qualcomm Snapdragon 865||64-bit octa-core processor (Max 2.7GHz + 2.5 GHz + 2.0 GHz)||2.84GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 855|
|Expandable storage||2TB||Up to 1TB||No|
|Battery||5,000 mAh||4,000 mAh||3,700 mAh|
|Special features||5G enabled; water resistant (IP68); wireless charging, Fast Charging 4.0||5G enabled; 120Hz refresh rate; water resistant (IP68)||Soli motion sensing and touchless gestures; 90Hz display; water resistant (IP68); dual-SIM capabilities (nano-SIM and e-SIM); wireless charging|
|Price off-contract (USD)||TBA||$999||$899 (64GB), $999 (128GB)|
|Price (GBP)||TBA||£799, £899 (5G)||£829 (64GB), £929 (128GB)|
|Price (AUD)||TBA||AU$1,349, AU$1,499 (5G)||AU$1,279 (64GB), AU$1,429 (128GB)|


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Ahead of this year's Mobile World Congress, Oppo has shown off new smartphone camera hardware that's capable of 10x lossless zoom.
Speaking at Oppo's European Innovation Event in Barcelona, Managing Director for OPPO Australia Michael Tran said that "with 10x lossless zoom, our mission was to develop a camera technology that would bring customers closer and let them capture content in a way that no other smartphone manufacturer has to date. We believe we’ve achieved that."
Oppo teased a smartphone camera with 5x optical zoom in early 2017. Then, last month, the company announced it had developed the technology further into a new triple-lens solution that was able to offer 10x lossless zoom. This new configuration combined a Ultra Wide Angle, Ultra Clear Master and Telephoto lens in a unique periscope arrangement, allowing it to surpass the zoom capabilities of even the current champion: Huawei's Mate 20 Pro.
Oppo's 10x camera configuration also boasts dual optical image stablisation akin to that found in the Galaxy Note and Galaxy S10.
It's unclear at this time whether Oppo plan to keep this technology to themselves or license it out to third parties.
The 5x lossless zoom camera tech the company showed at MWC 2017 never made it to market. Oppo's 10x zoom camera looks set to succeed where its predecessor failed, with Oppo product manager Chuck Wang confirming that the company will launch a device in the Q2 of 2019 featuring the technology.
What does this mean to consumers? Though Oppo's MWC technology showcase doesn't coincide with any sort of solid info about the devices they'll be bringing to market later this year, it does set them up for a strong year. When Oppo's 10x zoom smartphone arrives, it could well see them close the gap between rivals like Google, Samsung and Huawei in a meaningful way. Oppo's implementation of 10x zoom camera configuration is impressive in its own right but the real value of today's announcement is in how it expands the possibilities for what their future device could offer.
Disclosure - PC World Australia's coverage of this year's MWC in Barcelona was sponsored by Oppo who covered the costs of our flights and accommodation.


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Huawei and Ericsson have signed a long-term global patent cross-licensing agreement that covers patents essential to a wide range of standards such as 3GPP, ITU, IEEE, and IETF standards for 3G, 4G, and 5G cellular technologies. The agreement covers the companies’ respective sales of network infrastructure and consumer devices, granting both parties global access to each other’s patented, standardized technologies.
“We are delighted to reach a long-term global cross-licensing agreement with Ericsson,” said Alan Fan, Head of Huawei’s Intellectual Property Department. “As major contributors of standard essential patents (SEPs) for mobile communication, the companies recognize the value of each other’s intellectual property, and this agreement creates a stronger patent environment. It demonstrates the commitment both parties have forged that intellectual property should be properly respected and protected.”
Over the past 20 years, Huawei has been a major contributor to mainstream ICT standards, including those for cellular, Wi-Fi, and multimedia codecs. In 2022, Huawei topped the European Patent Office’s applicant ranking for number of patent applications filed, with 4,505 applications.
“Our commitment to sharing leading technological innovations will drive healthy, sustainable industry development and provide consumers with more robust products and services,” added Fan.
Huawei is both a holder and implementer of SEPs and seeks to take a balanced approach to licensing. Through the signing of this agreement, it is both giving and receiving access to key technologies. Fan said, “This agreement is the result of intensive discussions that ensured the interests of both patent holders and implementers are served fairly.”


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Lexus to ditch CT, IS and RC vehicles in UKOctober 8, 2020
The Japanese brand’s family hatchback, smallest sedan and four-seater coupe are leaving the UK market.
Lexus has stopped importing new versions of its IS sedan, RC coupe and CT hatchback as the models have been withdrawn from the UK market and no replacements are planned. All three models are listed as having “limited stock in stock,” and a company spokesman confirmed that these models are no longer being imported into the country.
Earlier this year, the Japanese premium brand unveiled the next generation IS. However, the BMW 3 Series rival will only be sold in the US, Japan and other Asian markets, with no European market planned. In addition, the British division of the brand claimed that the new ES sedan outperforms the IS by twice, reflecting the decline in popularity of the smaller model. There will be no replacement for the RC – or its derivative version of the RC F – by Lexus.
The hybrid CT, which shared the platform with the previous generation Toyota Auris and Toyota Prius, has been on sale since 2011. This model was not very popular with buyers. Direct replacement for CT has yet to be confirmed.
- The first electric Hummer sold out in just an hour
- Mercedes-Benz remains the world’s most valuable luxury brand
- Porsche brought the mysterious Porsche 911 to the test
- Audi revealed the RS E-Tron GT concept
- Genesis GV70 camouflaged crossover prototype spotted


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Apollo's Play in Europe
Image: Amit Verma
ack in 1994, Neeraj Kanwar honed his skills in the family’s tyre business on the streets of Piragarhi, on the outskirts of Delhi. Apollo Tyres, which till then mostly sold tyres for trucks and buses, had ventured into serving the two-wheeler segment. Apollo had just introduced a new brand called Black Cat for Bajaj Motors’ ubiquitous scooters. The younger son of Chairman Onkar Kanwar was asked to make the brand known to its customers. Neeraj was up to the task. Every time the traffic signal at Piragarhi turned red, Neeraj would run and change covers of the scooters’ spare tyre. The new cover would have the Black Cat visual on it, of a scooter driver about to skid but saved by two “black cat commandos.”
The initiative did not take off. Old timers believe that the brand could not survive by itself due to “the lack of focus on the mother brand.” The Gurgaon-based company never ventured into the two-wheelers segment again. But it has emerged as the second largest tyre manufacturer in India.
Now, after 16 years, Onkar and Neeraj are taking another risk. The market is new, the customers, unlike in India, are more conscious of the quality than price and the product has to be technology driven. For the father-son duo of India’s first tyre family, this initiative is critical in making their company “truly” global.
Apollo Tyres wants to sell passenger car tyres in Europe, a 250-million-unit -a-year market. It is one of the world’s largest and perhaps the most sophisticated tyre market.
Since September 2010, tyres with Apollo’s stamp have started selling in Germany, the UK, Italy and the Netherlands. “We are already selling around 30,000 units a month now. But we need to breach the 100,000 mark to start getting noticed,” says Neeraj.
Apollo has already spent four years on international roads. In 2006, it bought Dunlop’s operations in Africa and Netherlands-based Vredestein three years later. Apollo’s revenues zoomed from less than $500 million in 2005 to $1.7 billion in 2009. But till now Apollo has depended on these brands to sell locally. Now the Kanwars want the overseas customers to see their homegrown brand Apollo, test it, like it and buy it. And that will be a long, rough ride.
The European market is dominated by the big four tyre players — Bridgestone, Michelin, Goodyear and Continental. And if these giants are not enough, European customers also have their minds clogged by another 300 odd brands. “A customer in the United Kingdom might instantly recall two brands and if pushed, maybe 10. Making a presence in such a market is tough,” says Anthony Christopher, editor of Essex-based industry magazine Tyres & Accessories. Worse, this might not be an ideal time to enter the European tyre market, which is growing at less than two percent annually.
But Neeraj and his father “strongly believe” that selling Apollo overseas is the only way the tyre company can achieve its next five-year target: Revenues of $5 billion and rank among the top 10 tyre makers in the world. The latest rankings released by European Rubber Journal in December have Apollo on the 17th position for the year 2009. But can’t they do the same by selling more tyres in the booming Indian market, especially when Apollo tyres are priced at least three percent more than the nearest rivals? “In India, we face a massive shortage of natural rubber, the basic raw material for making tyres in India. The gap is as big as 2 lakh tonnes. This makes rubber very expensive and impacts the overall margins, which are less in India compared to Europe,” says the senior Kanwar. And success in Europe, adds son Neeraj, will pave the way to enter other markets like Australia, South-East Asia and South America. “A brand successful in Europe can easily enter other markets,” he reasons. Within five years, the Kanwars want to source 70 percent of Apollo’s revenues from overseas operations, from the present 39 percent.
“And we want to do it while remaining the market leaders in India,” adds Onkar. Apollo will commission the second phase of its new plant in Chennai in the first half of 2011, helping it increase volumes. “The new plant will make sure that we retain our market position in India,” he adds.


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'Always-on' fandoms: How esports communities are shaping the future of games | Playable Futures
ESL Gaming's Craig Levine considers a future where esports will have a profound influence across games and beyond
Playable Futures is a collection of insights, interviews and articles from global games leaders sharing their visions of where the industry will go next. This article series has been brought to you by GamesIndustry.biz, Ukie, Sumo Group and Diva.
The rise of esports in recent years has been unmissable. It's influence on the future of games as a medium, industry and cultural artefact, then, is likely to be tremendous.
Aside from all its success and growth, esports has also significantly shifted the status of the player, elevating consumers to exist as important focal points for vast communities. Esports devotees are much more than a passive audience to be sold products - they are competitors, content creators, and in some cases, adored superstars with larger fanbases than many successful games.
A new model of what fandom can offer continues to emerge within esports, and it's an opportunity many other gaming companies away from the core of esports might be wise to embrace.
The Power of Creators
Craig Levine is co-CEO at long-standing esports organisation, ESL Gaming. He has seen first-hand how esports have reshaped the industry-audience dynamic, and it's given him reason to be confident that it offers remarkable potential. Today, esports' focus on players is powerful in a myriad ways.
"We're currently in a world where players and influencers bring the power of creators, and that means a sort of this infinite distribution opportunity," he offers. "There are so many niche communities within esports - and here 'niche' doesn't mean small. I think 'niche' means focused. There are some very, very large niches in competitive gaming. The superstars of esports that come out are these incredible influencers who create tonnes of fandom around the games they focus on. They, ultimately, are keeping players of certain games engaged with the community when that community is not playing it. So I think it's incredibly powerful to build an esports ecosystem around a game."
And that gets to the very heart of the esports opportunity. For Levine, it is the digital element that really defines modern esports' strengths, and not those tempting comparisons with traditional sports. Whatsmore, it isn't only about top flight superstars.
Esports titles, in their most contemporary form, can be seen as gathering points for communities, influencers, casual players, spectators live and online, competitors at every skill level, fans of teams, and fans of individual titles.Together they make up a truly modern fandom, abundant in potential. Beyond the eagerly-viewed moments of competition, the community is engaged with the content it makes collectively streaming, posting, sharing and producing a wild range of output.
The result is an audience engaged with a given game around the clock, even when not playing or spectating. The community can even be seen as an extension of the content itself; not just a consumer. The devotion to certain games or teams does, in fact, bear comparison with traditional sports - and in combination with the connected, online fandom element, that means considerable potential to engage for months, years, or even lifetimes. For game designers, this presents a lasting opportunity to be creative while monetising from multiple revenue streams.
"The superstars of esports are these incredible influencers who create tonnes of fandom around the games they focus on"
"Competitive players are higher-value consumer customers for developers, for sure," offers Levine. "They spend more time in-game, and therefore spend more money on the game. Ultimately, esports can engage that community continually."
To Levine, that in part means monetisation through established means, such as new content, skins and subscriptions. Yet, increasingly, esports crosses over with so many other sectors. That means there's opportunity in ticket sales, licences and brand partnerships, sponsorship, video and broadcast, and multiple other digital channels and physical entities.
"What esports does is create a community of fandom outside of a game that keeps those players engaged when they're not playing," Levine continues. "And there's so many opportunities with what esports involves. I think it's incredibly symbiotic to a successful game strategy. That's why you're seeing more and more games now coming out with these new kinds of competitive features in mind."
And that is the crux of the future of games, as perceived by Levine. Esports isn't just about adding an online multiplayer mode. It's about building competitive features that foster and support a contemporary, always-on esports fandom. Having watched esports' interplay with games more broadly for so many years, Levine projects a future where a great many more games increase their effort to build meaningful fandoms based on the esports model.
That's not trivial, in part because it means all those related entities - sponsorship and live ticketing and broadcast and so on - may become much more of a norm across many types of games currently considered distant from what esports is. And at the same time, esports will surely influence the sectors it embraces.
"Those spaces are $300 billion dollar industries," states Levine. "That's very different from the $1.2 billion esports has been defined as worth today. I think as we start to zoom out and see the impact our fans have on the world, and all these other entities, esports is going to continue to bleed into all those things. And it is being redefined in a way that only makes people become that much more aware of it."
Perceived another way, the increasing game industry breadth that has influenced so many other sectors is set to ramp up significantly, fuelled by the evolution of esports.
It certainly won't be the case that every game in a decade's time will be a giant of esports. Rather, Levine believes we will see an increased capacity for many different fandom-building competitive games inspired by the esports model, providing numerous different kinds of niche, large and small. All while competitive giants, established and forthcoming, will be increasingly bankable.
"When I think about the next generation of titles, they're building competitive features because, again, that develops higher-value customers for them."
"The easy thing 10 years ago - when everyone jumped into esports - was replicating the business models of traditional sports, and then thinking that's it"
Putting the E into Esports
However, Levine maintains a pragmatic perspective because, even in the established esports space, there remains a great deal still in need of refinement. In particular, he perceives that purebred esports will, in the coming years, have to put more focus on developing and maintaining business and ecosystem conventions.
"The easy thing 10 years ago - when everyone jumped into esports - was replicating the business models of traditional sports, and then thinking that's it. But a big part of that business model is media rights. I like to say the 'E' in esports actually makes it more unique than similar to traditional sports because our audience is digital. What that means is it actually doesn't work with the traditional media rights business model that has helped fund traditional sports for so long. When we look out, we can say we have a huge audience, and we do. One of the challenges today is that premium doesn't monetise in a premium way on digital. That's not an esports problem. That's not a video game problem. That's a digital problem."
There is plenty of work to be done. But there is no doubt that esport's influence on the future of games will be felt far beyond purebred competitive gaming.
For one, there is a profound opportunity in building fandoms that embrace the esports model - meaning establishing communities engaged around the clock, where the community are content creators as well as consumers, serving each other and developing tremendous and retaining loyalty.
Additionally, video games broadly are likely to see the opportunity in converging with live events, broadcast, ticketing, sponsorship and many other industries typically associated with traditional sports. There esports has pioneered the way, but the opportunity doesn't stop with large scale competitive gaming.
Simply put, esports' influence on the future of the medium is about a lot more than just competitive gaming.


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The Industrial Supply Association is keeping up with a fast-changing industry. The organization launched a strategic initiative called Channel 2.0 earlier this year, and its incoming board is committed to further the progress of this mission critical initiative.
The purpose is to help distributors, manufacturers and independent manufacturing representatives adapt so they can all work better together by providing more strategic value for each other while satisfying the end customer. “It’s focused on the end user first and their evolving needs and the waterfall effect it has on all stakeholders in the channel,” says ISA President Ed Gerber. Distributors, manufacturers and independent representatives each form a different piece of the puzzle, fulfilling different roles. As one evolves, that impacts the other pieces.
Channel 2.0’s initial offering includes comprehensive business intelligence and analytics for Distributors and Manufacturers, industry standards like POS (point of sales) as well as an industry first standardized sales process and pipeline platform better connecting Independent Reps and Manufacturers increasing their collaboration to win opportunities faster through the channel. “And it’s is only the beginning” says Gerber, we are focused on our next set of deliverables which will move the initiative to Channel 3.0 and beyond.
For ISA’s members, “It’s no longer about transactions anymore. It’s about the value add aligned to what the End Customer cares about,” he explains. “It’s about moving from a transactional organization to a solution-centric organization focused on the end customer.. Driving that cultural change throughout the entire organization is a huge challenge for most organizations but one that has to happen in order to survive and thrive as the channel continue to evolve says Gerber.
ISA has about 700 corporate members, mostly in the United States and Canada. It has four new incoming board members this year:
- Maria Ford, Vice President of commercial marketing at Stanley Black & Decker
- Rob Keenan, President of SECO Tools
- Joyce Lansdale, Vice President of national accounts at Vallen
- Greg Polli, Senior Vice President of product management and global sourcing at MSC Industrial
ISA’s 13 board members represent organizations of various sizes and types, including public companies, private companies and family businesses. Each board member serves a three-year term.


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To kick-start 2016, I published a new article in Forbes Magazine about the phenomenon of co-branding in the luxury sector. In recent years, we have seen a big number of varied alliances between brands. What was once an exception in the luxury sector has now become the rule, but why? Find out more in my article!
In this month’s article in Forbes Mexico, I analyze the emergence of florists as a new luxury product. The raw material for this new segment is nature and its flowers, beautiful and fragile, that combine perfectly as if it were a plate of food at a magnificent restaurant. If you want to know more, go check out the article
The new videos recorded for the Asociación de Creadores de Moda de España (ACME) and the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) last December 15th about the luxury market in Spain are now up on the university’s platform. Check them out on the following link: https://canal.uned.es/serial/index/hash/8196e8d0f9ee7dfdfc7e11dbbfa30d77


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Domino’s pizza franchise pays bumper dividend as turnover tops €60m
Shorecal paid a €22 million dividend to shareholders but trimmed staff numbers by nearly 15%
Ireland’s biggest Domino’s operator has paid its shareholders a €22 million dividend after revenue topped €60 million for the first time in 2021.
Shorecal, the franchisee for around 27 Domino’s restaurants around the country, reported an after-tax profit of €10.34 million in the year ended December 2021 – a figure that represented a 16 per cent increase on the previous year.
The dividend paid out by the company, which was declared on January 4, 2022, ...


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For those in the “Hey, Google” camp, there’s another product in Google’s voice-controlled hardware lineup: the Google Nest Hub Max, a smart speaker with a tablet-sized touchscreen and a smart camera, which was announced at today’s I/O developer conference.
It’s a follow-up to the camera-less, smaller-screen Google Home Hub voice assistant released in the fall, with added video chat and security camera capabilities. The device, slated for a summer 2019 release, will cost $229 at Best Buy, Target, and Home Depot and online at the Google Store.
The Nest Hub Max’s embedded, front-facing “Nest” camera, with a wide-angle, 127-degree lens, is its defining feature. It can be used for video chat and for recording video messages through Duo, Google’s video calling app for iPhone and Android. While you chat, the camera automatically pans and zooms to follow people as they move around the room, a feature seen before in Facebook’s Portal device.
It does double duty as a Nest security camera, too. People can access a live feed of the Hub Max’s camera from their smartphones. When the camera is accessed, a green LED light on the device lights up. While the live feed is free, a subscription to Nest is required for recording and motion detection.
“Face Match,” a new facial-recognition feature, recognizes up to six household members and unlocks a personalized notifications view. For example, you’ll be able to stand in front of the Hub Max to see events from your personal calendar, reminders, and traffic alerts for your commute, among other things. The artificial intelligence that powers the feature is done on the device itself, meaning that video frames of your face aren’t sent to Google servers, according to Ashton Udall, product lead for smart displays at Google. Google Home devices without screens can already recognize different voices with "Voice Match."
The camera can recognize “quick gestures” as well. People standing up to 12 feet away can simply hold up their hand to play or pause video or audio.
And it can play videos from YouTube or, if you’re a subscriber, content from HBO Now, CBS, and others (no Netflix or Amazon Prime, though).
With the launch of the Google Nest Hub Max, the tech giant is more fully integrating Nest — the smart-thermometer and security camera company that Google acquired in 2014 — into its Google-branded products. The old Google Home Hub will be renamed the Nest Hub.
A survey by eMarketer estimates that more than a quarter, 26.8%, of US adults will use a smart speaker by the end of the year. The market is dominated by Amazon’s Alexa-powered Echo products, with 63.3% of smart-speaker owners, but that share is expected to shrink through 2020 as Google Home (31%) and Apple’s HomePod (12%) ownership grows, according to eMarketer. Amazon also has a line of voice-controlled displays with cameras, called the Echo Show and Echo Spot.
One potential barrier is privacy concerns consumers have raised around always-listening microphones and internet-connected cameras, like the kind on the Nest Hub Max. In April a Bloomberg report found that a team at Amazon listens to people’s audio snippets recorded by Alexa devices and can see the customer’s first name and an account number. A new California proposal, AB1395, aims to force companies to completely and permanently delete your data when you tell them to. Last year, Google changed its default Assistant setting to not record its users’ “Hey, Google” commands. (You can turn it off in settings.)
The Nest Hub Max includes a switch that physically disables the device’s microphone and camera.